One More Story
by Davner
Summary: Peorth charges Keiichi with a holy quest... seduce a goddess or be responsible for her death.


_Okay, so here's the deal: I started this story and Four Roses a few years ago, and I'm not sure they're worth finishing. Let me know what you think._

_Davner_

Disclaimer: AMG isn't mine.

**One More Story**

**Part 1**

**An Unexpected Something or Other**

So focused on the view she was taking in from the back steps, Belldandy didn't even notice Peorth's approach from within the house and jumped when the brunette goddess called to her.

"Belldandy?"

"Hai?" Belldandy replied automatically as she turned, her eyes lighting up. "Ah! Peorth! We didn't expect to see you again so soon!" Before the other goddess could reply, Belldandy turned back to the yard.

It was a little odd, and Peorth arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

This time, Belldandy didn't turn. "Watching Keiichi san work out."

Peorth blinked and turned, following Belldandy's gaze until her own glanced upon the young mortal with a set of weights near the koi pond. She grinned evilly.

"Why?" she asked innocently.

Belldandy didn't answer, but did turn a distinct shade of red.

"It's okay to say, 'because he's not wearing a shirt,' cheri," Peorth teased.

"I'm sorry!" Belldandy cried rising to her feet. "I'm being rude. Would you like some tea, Peorth san?"

"Actually, I need to speak to him," Peorth told her with a nod to the boy. She grinned again. "That is, if you're done with him."

"Of course you can speak to Keiichi san," Belldandy replied, still a touch of red around her cheeks. "I'll… just go make some tea."

Peorth watched the goddess rush into the house and giggled. Belldandy was so cute sometimes. Stepping off the porch, she turned her mind toward more serious thoughts, such as the purpose that brought her here in the first place.

She found Keiichi lying on his back on a black, padded weight bench with a set of dumbbells in his hands. He caught sight of her approaching and sat up.

"Hey, Peorth san," he greeted, simultaneously reaching for a shirt. She watched him pull the shirt on with a touch of regret. The boy wasn't exactly cut like Hugh Jackman, but his frame made her wonder why he didn't go to the beach and show it off more often. "Senpai was throwing out his old weight set," he went on with a little embarrassment. "Didn't want to see it go to waste."

It was something the boy was known for, taking in and saving refugee articles people just threw out as soon as something new came along. She knew it was one of the reasons Belldandy had fallen for him so quickly and so easily.

As if thinking of her made her appear, Belldandy stepped up with a tray laden with tea-cups and a tall glass of water.

"I brought tea for us and water for you," she told him as she set the tray down. "How was your work-out, Keiichi san?"

"Well…."

Peorth grinned and jumped in, cutting the boy off. "You should know, Belldandy," she quipped. "You were staring at him the entire time."

She got the distinct pleasure of watching them both blush. Keiichi straightened his shirt as Belldandy nervously poured tea.

"So," Keiichi began. "You on vacation again, Peorth?" he asked.

She shook her head and looked down at him. "Keiichi Morisato, I've come on behalf of the Almighty to charge you with a holy quest."

888

"Maybe you should start from the beginning," Keiichi said as he entered the kitchen. He had obviously rushed through his shower, his hair was still dripping as he sat down at the table next to Belldandy.

On the other side of that table, Peorth sipped her tea before addressing him. "I apologize," she said. "By using the formal title, I'm afraid I've made this situation seem more dire for you than it truly is."

"Then what is the situation, Peorth san?" Belldandy asked with a touch of concern. "What is it the Almighty needs Keiichi san to do?"

The brunette cleared her throat and lowered her teacup. She met his eyes and just came out with it.

"The Almighty needs you to seduce a goddess."

888

Skuld smiled as she screwed in the last light bulb.

"There!" she said proudly as she climbed down off the ladder. "Now every lightbulb in the temple is an energy-saving green bulb."

"You're wasting your time," Urd said, flipping through a magazine nearby.

"Hmmph!" Skuld replied. "Just because you don't believe in Global Warming doesn't make it wrong! By changing every bulb in the temple, I've reduced our carbon footprint and brought the Earth one step closer into balance with nature!"

"Didn't say global warming wasn't real," Urd said, flipping the page on her magazine. "Just said it was a waste of time."

"And why is that?" Skuld demanded, spinning on her.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason whatsoever, every lightbulb in the house exploded simultaneously. Skuld's expression dropped through the floor.

Urd put the magazine down. "Come on, you've lived here _how_ long?"

888

"Iwanttogoontherecordassaying Idon'tsupporthisplaninanywayshape orform!" Keiichi cried quickly at Belldandy as the goddess glared at Peorth, rivulets of jealous anger visibly rising from her and into the ceiling.

"Cheri! Cheri! Calm down!" Peorth said quickly, her hands up in an effort to calm the Norn down. "It's not that bad…"

Belldandy continued to glare.

"Perhaps I phrased it poorly!" Peorth allowed quickly. "What I _meant_ to say was that… I… um… the Almighty needs Keiichi to… um…. Show the kind of care and attention to a goddess that he's shown… um… you?"

The storm passed suddenly, and Belldandy smiled. "Ah! I see!"

"You do?" Keiichi asked incredulously.

She turned to him. "Hai! Keiichi san, you've showed me nothing but care and kindness since I arrived. If another goddess is in need of that care and kindness, I could hardly object!"

Peorth and Keiichi blinked at her. "The fact that you only rephrased that to keep her from destroying the house went right over her head," he whispered to her.

"Hey, it's not my house, just go with it," she hissed back.

"Okay," Keiichi said, taking a breath and turning back to Peorth. "Now… keeping in mind who's in the room…. What and why do you need me to do this?"

Peorth took another sip of tea. "There's a goddess in the local area, Clio, and she needs help." She met Keiichi's gaze again. "She's decided to end her life."

"What?!" Keiichi cried, rising to his feet. "Well, shouldn't you be out there keeping an eye on her instead of here!"

"Relax, Keiichi, we still have some time."

"How do you know?!" Keiichi cried.

Belldandy placed her hand on his arm to calm him down. "Keiichi san, it's all right. Peorth is right."

"But…"

"It's different for goddesses than it is for mortals," she went on. "A goddess can only end her life with permission from the Almighty and then only after the goddess has satisfied her requirement."

"Okay, I'm lost," Keiichi said, sitting down again.

"When a goddess, for whatever reason, wishes to end her existence, the Almighty assigns her a task," Peorth said. "The task is often very time consuming or nearly impossible. Like Sysiphus pushing the rock up the hill only for it to roll down again. It's supposed to give the goddess time to think and abandon the idea."

"So what's the deal this time?" Keiichi asked.

"The Almighty… erred," Peorth told him. "He inadvertently gave Clio a task she would actually enjoy completing. Now she is almost finished."

"And how do I fit into this?" he asked her.

Peorth took a breath. "Because you have a way with goddesses," she said.

"Huh?"

"Those aren't my words, they're the Almighty's," she went on. "Every goddess that comes down here and interacts with you is… changed…"

"Oh, come on!"

"Keiichi san, it's true," Belldandy said from his left. "No goddess who's ever met you has ever left the same way as when she arrived. Myself, Urd, Skuld, Peorth, Lind, Gate… we're all… different… perhaps even better than we were."

"I don't think that," he said. "If anything, it's the other way around."

"Regardless of what you think, it's the Almighty's hope that you can do the same for Clio," Peorth told him.

The boy blinked. "Wait a second… Wait!" He rose angrily to his feet. "You can't do that!"

"Keiichi san?" Belldandy asked in concern.

"No! No way!" Keiichi said. "I refuse to accept the responsibility! You're basically saying that whether or not this goddess _kills herself_ is down to me! You can't put that on me!"

"Keiichi, you may be the only person who can prevent her from making a horrible mistake!" Peorth cried defensively.

"Then she needs a counselor or something!" Keiichi retorted.

"How can you turn your back on…"

"Don't you dare!" Keiichi hissed at her, cutting the goddess short. "You cannot lay a person's life or death on someone like that."

He felt Belldandy's hand on his arm again. "Keiichi san…"

The college student looked down at Belldandy. The goddess looked down at the table. "Please do this."

"Belldandy," he muttered.

She finally looked up at him and smiled. "You're right," she said. "It's not your responsibility. No one should put that on your shoulders. But you have an opportunity to help. Even if it's not your responsibility… you could save her."

He swallowed. "And if I can't?" he asked.

The goddess smiled gently. "Then it will be a sad day," she said. "But no sadder than that day coming to us and knowing we didn't do anything to try and stop it."

Peorth calmed down and reached across the table taking his hands in hers. "Keiichi, please. You can help her. I know you can! If you saw an old woman in the street about to be hit by a car, would you stand by and do nothing?!"

He took a breath. "What do you need me to do?" he asked.

Peorth smiled at him. "Just be yourself."

888

"Okay, we're almost to that address," Keiichi said, bringing the Beemer to a stop a block from their destination. "Parking up there sucks, though. We'll walk it from here."

Climbing off the bike, he put the helmet on the seat and looked up to find the sidecar empty. "Peorth?" he asked, blinking.

"Right here!"

He jumped a bit as he turned his head and found a chibi version of the goddess sitting on his shoulder, her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. She gave him a wink.

This time, Keiichi knew how to fight back. "Awww," he said with a smile. "Aren't you cute. It's like you're a little kid again."

Peorth's face darkened at being reminded of the spell Velsper had placed on her. "Let's not go there today," she all but growled.

"Okay, okay," he relented as he started down the street. "But why make yourself so small?"

"I don't want Clio to see me," she replied. "It would be best if she thought this were a chance encounter."

His eyes narrowed. "Uh huh," he replied. He couldn't shake the feeling that Peorth was up to something. He decided to change the subject. "So you never told me what this task was Clio had to perform. What is it? Kill a dragon? Build a rocket ship?"

"That's her task," Peorth answered, pointing at a large, brick building lined with marble columns.

He blinked. "The library?"

"Oui," she replied. "The Almighty decreed that before Clio could end her life, she must read every book in the Saburo Sakai Public Library in Nekomi."

He blinked. "But… there must be something like ten thousand books in there!"

"Eleven thousand, one hundred and twenty-three," Peorth told him. "She's read all but two of them."

He whistled in awe. "She must have been at it for a decade…"

"Oui," Peorth replied, her eyebrow twitching. "The Almighty _overlooked_ the fact that Clio is an avid reader."

"Hmm," he remarked. He took a deep breath and fidgeted nervously. "Okay, so… what do you need me to do. And Belldandy's not here, so you can be honest."

"Clio is lonely," Peorth told him. "That's all it is. I'm sure of it. She's always closed herself off to others, enthralled in her books or her work. If a nice guy paid a little attention to her, coaxed her out of her shell, the loneliness would be cured and she would realize she doesn't have to do this."

Not for the first time, Keiichi blinked at the way Peorth spoke. Before he could remark on it, he was pushing the door to the library open, and the goddess was hopping down into the hood of his jacket to hide.

"So," he said quietly as he ambled past the front desk. "How am I going to know it when I see her?"

He could almost feel Peorth's irritated glare on the back of his head. "When was the last time you saw a goddess who was just average-looking?" she asked bitterly.

"Okay, okay, I get it," he whispered. "Look for the hottie. Got it."

As casually as possible, he checked down each aisle of books, searching for someone who reminded him of Peorth or the Norns.

"Psst!" he heard Peorth hiss in his ear. "There she is!"

"Where?!" he cried, whirling around.

"Ack! Look up! Look up!"

The boy looked up and found a blonde woman in a dark green dress walking by on the second floor. Her hair was pinned up in a conservative bun and her dress went down to her ankles.

"Huh," he remarked.

"Quoi?"

"Nothing," he remarked. "She just…. looks… like she belongs in a library, that's all."

"No profiling!" Peorth ordered. "I'll have you know she's one of the kindest, gentlest goddesses in Creation!"

"Okay! Okay!"

"Now get up there and show her the time of her life!"

"Peorth!"

"What?!"

"I'm not going to seduce her!" he told her firmly.

"Fine! Be boring!"

"Maybe I should do this by myself," he said.

"You'll only screw it up…"

"Peorth! Wait in the Beemer!" he cried.

Every head for twenty yards turned and glared at him. A hatchet-faced librarian shh'd him. He growled.

"Fine!" Peorth hissed. A moment later she was gone.

He took a deep breath and steadied himself. After all, all he had to do was talk to her, right? No big deal. He talked to girls all the time…

Okay, so that was a huge lie. He talked to Belldandy, Urd, Skuld, Megumi, Hasegawa and Chihiro. That was pretty much it unless you counted Sayoko, and those conversations were just strange. He didn't know how to talk to women he didn't already know.

Swallowing his nervousness, he adjusted his shirt and climbed the stairs to the second floor, taking a quick moment to look out at the shelves on the first floor. He'd always liked the Sakai Library. It was bigger than the one at Nekomi Tech, and he had gotten a library card within a few days of realizing that most of the books he needed for his research projects could be found here while only mournful gaps in shelves could be found at NIT.

Cresting the top of the staircase, he let his gaze wander around the north wing of the building. The wing was set up as a reading area, complete with ugly green couches and lamps. It was almost deserted.

Almost…

She was sitting in one of the ugly green chairs that faced away from a large window, her gaze focused intently on the thick book in her lap. He wondered if the green dress she wore was designed to act as camouflage to blend in with the chair in hopes of not being bothered.

The woman was so into her book, for a moment, he felt bad about disturbing her. But he remembered why he was there and cleared his throat.

"Um… hi," he said.

The woman spared him a glance and a smile and went back to reading.

Keiichi searched for something to say as he sat down in the chair across from her. He tried to think of a line from a movie that always worked, but remembered that those lines only worked for movie stars. His eyes fell on the cover of the book she was reading and smiled.

"The Two Towers, huh?" he asked with a smile. "That's a great one. I read that when I was a kid."

The goddess's glance broke from the pages of Tolkien and found his. "Oh?" she asked.

Seeing he had made some tenuous connection, Keiichi ran with it. "Yeah, I was in like seventh grade. Great book. Where are you in it?"

He watched her put the book down. Given the situation, he thought it was kind of like watching someone put down a gun after having it held to their own head.

"About halfway," she replied with a genuine smile. "The orcs are about to attack Helm's Deep."

"Yeah, that part's awesome," he said, swallowing. "First time reading the trilogy?"

She nodded.

"You ever see the movies?" he asked. "They're pretty good. They follow the books really well."

"No, I don't watch movies," she said. "I prefer to read. It works my imagination more."

"Yeah, I guess I know what you mean," he said. There was an awkward pause. He watched Clio start to raise her book again. "My name's Keiichi," he said, suddenly offering her his hand. It wasn't something Japanese normally did, but it had the effect of forcing Clio to put the book down in order to shake it.

"My name is Clio," she told him.

"It's nice to meet you," he said. She started to glance down toward the book, and he jumped again. "So where are you from?"

She looked only a little exasperated by the interruption as she caught his gaze again. "Far away," she told him.

"Yeah, I could kind of tell," he quipped. "Blonde hair and green eyes aren't exactly typical for these parts."

This time she didn't fall for it. She picked the book up. "I suppose not." She started reading again.

He bit his lip in thought and decided to feign ignorance. "I'm impressed," he said.

She looked up again.

"I mean, I know some foreigners,"he said. "Some of them have lived here for ten years and still can't read the headlines, but you're reading Tolkien in Japanese. That's pretty impressive."

She looked at him strangely and arched an eyebrow. He started to sweat.

_Uh oh… Did she say Clio was a first class goddess or a second class?_

"First class," Clio told him, her lips pursed.

_Oh, right…. First class goddesses can read minds._

"Only when our BS detectors go off," she told him sternly.

_I'm going to stop thinking now…_

"That would probably be best," she agreed. She put the book down. "Now go ahead and tell me who you are and what you're doing here. If you're truthful, I will not feel the need to search your mind for the answers."

"The Almighty sent me," he told her.

"Did he?" she asked, her eyebrow arched.

He bit his lip and looked at the ground. "Look, Clio san," he said. "I don't know why you're doing what you're doing, but have you really thought about it?"

"I've sat in this library for the last ten years thinking about it," she told him. "And now that I'm nearly finished, I can say I've found no reason to alter my course."

"You've been in here for ten years?" he asked in awe.

"Yes, well," she said, clearing her throat. "There _are_ a great many books here. And after I finish this one and one other, I'll be done."

"But why?" he asked.

"You'll excuse me if I don't feel like sharing such intimate parts of my life with a complete stranger," she responded.

"But…"

"Look, Keiichi san," she began. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's my life. It's mine to end for whatever reasons I feel appropriate. Now if you'll excuse me."

She looked down at her book and started to read. Keiichi watched her for a several moments, hoping she would come around again and engage him, but her eyes were flowing over the words in the thick paperback.

As he watched her, he was overcome with an intense feeling of sadness. He didn't know this goddess, but if she was anything like Belldandy, Peorth, Urd and Skuld, then he knew her absence from the world would do nothing but make it a little bit darker.

"If you change your mind and want to talk," he said sadly as he stood up. "Here's my address." He leaned over and wrote it on the page she was on. He caught her eyes for another moment. "Anytime, okay?"

She nodded tersely and returned to reading. Taking a breath, Keiichi walked away and descended the stairs. He reached out almost randomly and plucked a book off the shelf before he stopped at the front counter.

Peorth caught up with him there, still in her chibi form. She hid behind a stack of returned books as the librarian scanned his library card.

"Well?" she demanded. "How did it go?"

"It didn't," he replied. The librarian blinked in puzzlement as she handed him the book. He started walking, and the mini-goddess hopped onto his shoulder as he passed. "She sniffed me out and wouldn't listen to anything I had to say."

"Quoi!?" she asked. "Then why are you leaving?! You need to go back!"

"She's not going to listen to me, Peorth," he told her flatly.

"Don't you understand?!" she cried. "She's going to finish that book and immediately start on the last! Once she does, that's it! She'll be dead in a week!"

"Don't think so," he replied. "I think in a week she's going to knock on our door and want to talk."

"So, what?" she asked. "You're a psychologist now!? You know that for a fact!?"

"Sure do," he said as they approached the Beemer. Peorth hopped down and resumed her true form. The anger and pain was evident on her face.

"And what makes you think that, Docteur?!" she threw at him, pointing at his chest.

He held the book he checked out in front of her face. "Because I just checked out their only copy of Return of the King," he said with a smile. "And I'm not giving it back."

Peorth blinked for a moment then threw herself at Keiichi, kissing him full on the mouth.

"Merci! Merci!" she cried as she broke away, laughing giddily. "You're a genius, Keiichi!"

The boy stood there in a daze. Peorth waved her hand back and forth in front of his eyes.

"Excuze-moi," she said sheepishly. "I think I put a little too much into it."

He swallowed, his eyes staring off into nothingness. "Don't. Tell. Belldandy."

"Keiichi?"

"I mean… like… EVER," he said.

Peorth smiled. "Oh, Keiichi, it was only a…."

"Swear to me!" he demanded.

"Oui, oui," she said, sounding bored with the whole thing already.

888

"We're home," Keiichi called out as he walked through the temple residence's front door.

"Welcome home!" Belldandy called as she stepped in from the kitchen to meet them. "How did it go?"

"I don't know yet," Keiichi confessed just as Peorth grinned and said…

"Keiichi is a genius!"

"You are?" Belldandy asked him, blinking.

He sighed. "I guess we'll find out in about a week, in the meantime…" He broke off as he caught Belldandy staring at him. "Um… Belldandy? What is it?"

She stared him directly in the face, her eyes wide as if scanning his very soul. A moment later, she gasped and turned to the other goddess.

"PEORTH! How could you?!"

Peorth shrugged as she walked into the living room. "It was just a little tongue. He was a very good boy today…"

"Belldandy! It's not what you think! I swear!" Keiichi cried in alarm.

The Norn turned woeful, tear-filled eyes toward him. "Keiichi san…"

"Oh, cut the waterworks," Peorth called from the living room. "He didn't do anything wrong. I got excited and I kissed him. Nothing more to it…." She picked up the remote and started scanning TV channels.

"I see," Belldandy said, not truly convinced.

Seeing the sad look on her face, Keiichi tried to change the subject. "But the good news is that Clio literally can't finish her task without talking to us first. So we've bought some time."

Belldandy brightened at this. Clapping her hands together, she smiled. "That's wonderful! This calls for a cup of tea!" The Norn ducked into the kitchen, and Keiichi entered the living room, breathing a sigh of relief.

Peorth was watching an episode of MacGuyver. He sat down nearby. "So now what?" she asked.

"Heck if I know," he admitted. "I guess I better hide this thing," he said, raising the book. "Maybe I can get Skuld to send it back in time or something. Either way, it's only a temporary solution. Eventually, the library will realize they're not getting their book back and just order a replacement. Once this book is taken off their registry and replaced with another, we'll have to do this all over again."

She turned to him. "Not if you can talk her out of this," she said excitedly.

"Peorth san," he began sadly. "I mean… I bought us maybe a week. I really don't know what else to do…"

"You're doing it now!" she told him quickly, almost frantically. "You're not giving up on her! That's all she really needs!"

He blinked at the outburst. "Peorth san… do you kn…"

"Tea is ready!" Belldandy announced as she entered the room with the same try she carried into the yard this morning. She handed Peorth a cup before giving another to Keiichi.

Before Keiichi could repeat his question, Peorth took a sip of tea and suddenly turned a deep shade of red. Sweat broke out on her forehead. She put the cup down and stood up, her eyes wide. A moment later, she was running into the kitchen.

Keiichi heard the faucet running and the sound of the goddess panting rapidly. "Huh?"

Belldandy picked up the goddess's teacup and examined it. "Oh my!" she said. "I think I accidentally put jalapeno oil in her cup instead of milk!" She smiled. "Silly me!"

Keiichi's eyes fell to his cup, and he quickly put it down. "I need to talk to Skuld," he said. "I'll be right back."

888

"Hey, Skuld, I need a favor," Keiichi said as he entered the petite goddess's lab.

"Keiichi, I'm a little busy saving your dying planet from your wasteful race," Skuld told him immediately, not turning from the device she was constructing on her work-bench.

"Um…. Well… thanks?" he replied. "But maybe you could put that on hold for a little bit?"

Skuld sighed and turned to a framed photograph of a heavy-set American man with brown hair and a broad smile. "They don't understand, my love," she said. "I'm trying to save them from themselves, and they actively stand in my way." She sighed again. "How do you do it day after day?"

Keiichi looked at the picture and blinked. "Is… Is that Al Gore?"

She turned and shot him a glare. "If by 'Al Gore,' you mean 'the savior of your entire world and last best hope for the salvation of your race,' then yes, that's Al Gore."

"So…. How about them Dodgers?" Keiichi asked, desperate to change the subject.

Skuld sighed again. "What do you want?"

He held up the book. "I need this protected or hidden where no one, not even a goddess, can get to it unless I say so."

She took the copy of Return of the King and arched an eyebrow. "Hey, I love this movie! They made a book out of it?! That's awesome!"

"There is so much wrong with what you just said, I don't know where to start," Keiichi said morosely. "So, can you do it? Send it back in time, encase it in carbonite, anything?"

"Yeah, no prob," she replied. "I'll use my green power converter somehow… this way I can hide your book and save your festering world all at the same time!"

Keiichi paused. "Yeah, that's awesome. Thanks, Skuld."

Then Keiichi left as fast as he possibly could.

888

Bearing a withering scowl on her face and the front of her outfit soaked with water, Peorth stormed from the kitchen and squared off with the Norn who had so evilly attacked her.

"What was that?" she demanded.

Belldandy looked at the ground and frowned. "Jalapeno oil," she confessed.

"And _why_ was there jalapeno oil in my tea?" Peorth asked.

The Norn began to make little circles in the floor with her toe. "Because you kissed Keiichi san…"

"Augh!" Peorth cried. "I told you it didn't mean anything!"

Belldandy looked up at her suddenly, fire in her eyes. "Then why did you do it?!"

Peorth took a step back at the ferocity in the question. "Quoi?"

"Why did you do it?" Belldandy repeated. "Since the day you met him you've done these kinds of things."

"That's not true!" Peorth cried. "I've done my best to move _your_ relationship with him forward!"

"By kissing him?" Belldandy demanded. "By coming to our home and announcing that the Almighty wants him to seduce some goddess?"

Peorth blinked. "You've changed," she said. "It used to be when you got jealous you'd just blow things up. I'm not sure I like this new, catty side of you."

"I am not being catty," Belldandy told her.

"You spiked a woman's drink with jalapeno oil for making a move on your boyfriend," Peorth pointed out.

Belldandy pointed at her. "So you admit to making a move on him!"

Peorth seemed insulted at the idea. "I was not!" She put her hands on her hips. "And if I really wanted to, I could take that boy away from you at any time!"

The threat went right to the core of Belldandy's heart. She stared at Peorth wide-eyed.

"What?" Peorth asked folding her arms imperiously over her breasts. "You need me to prove it? Is the only way to prove I'm not after Keiichi to _steal_ him from you, make him love me, then crush him and give him back? Is that what you want?"

Belldandy went dead silent. Peorth glared, unwilling to look away until she was sure this was through. Any moment now, Belldandy would calm down, realize how stupid this was and apologize for…

"Then the only way to prevent that from happening is through the holy rites," Belldandy announced as if from on-high. Peorth just blinked in shock. "Peorth, I challenge you to a Class One Goddess Duel with the winner taking mating rights to Keiichi in perpetuity!"

Peorth went ballistic. "Are you stupid?! Think about this, Belldandy! I keep saying I don't want him! I'm not trying to steal him from you! A goddess duel is binding by the System Force! If you don't win, you lose him forever!"

Belldandy looked at the ground again. "Perhaps… But I'm tired, Peorth. Tired of the constant threat of losing him. Tired of losing control of my jealousy and putting the people around me in danger. When you do things like that, it makes me into something I'm not, something I don't want to be." She looked up again. "But if I beat you, then I no longer have to worry about losing control of myself. It will be settled."

"And if you lose, that's it," Peorth said.

Belldandy said nothing.

"Fine! Starting tonight!" Peorth told her. She turned on her heel and stalked down the hallway. Belldandy turned and left in the opposite direction.

Standing nearby, Keiichi gaped at what he just saw. Urd patted him on the back.

"What…. What just happened?" he asked.

"Goddess duel," Urd told him nonchalantly.

"And what does that mean again?"

She smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "Whichever one wins gets to sleep with you!"

888

He didn't come to for several hours. When he did, the first thing he heard was the sound of grunts and irritated cries. He rolled over and found himself in his room. The sounds were coming from the next room over. Climbing to his feet, he stepped into the hallway and crept next door, Belldandy's room.

There was definitely sounds of battle inside. Throwing open the door, he stepped through and stopped short.

Urd was standing near the door, impassively watching as Peorth and Belldandy beat on each other with pillows, feathers flying about the room.

"What the… what the…"

Urd sighed. "The goddess duel has begun. This is the first event; Goddess-on-Goddess Anything Goes Pillow Fight."

The two goddesses squared off on the futon, holding aloft satin pillows like maces, their chests heaving from exertion and both were covered with a sheen of sweat. Peorth shrieked as Belldandy pinned her to the futon, but a strike from the brunette's pillow forced Belldandy away and…

888

He didn't come to for several hours. When he did, the first thing he listened for was sounds of a pillow fight. Hearing nothing, he sighed.

"I really have to stop doing that," he muttered.

"Hey, there, Romeo, how you feeling?"

He turned and found Urd grinning at him from the doorway.

"Better, I guess," he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "So who's winning?"

The Norn bit her lip. "Peorth is up by one. Belldandy just simply lacks the kind of killer instinct needed to win a full contact pillow fight."

He sighed again. "Is there any way for them to resolve this peacefully? I mean… I like Peorth and all, but I don't love her…"

Urd shrugged. "All they have to do is both agree to call it off, but you know how Belldandy is about winning and Peorth… I don't know, Keiichi. There's something off about Peorth lately. I think this challenge really insulted and hurt her. Now she feels beating Belldandy is the only way to salve her honor."

"Whippee," Keiichi replied deadpan. "Well, while they do that, I better see how Skuld's doing with that book."

Urd rolled her eyes. "You mean the new goddess of green? I'll come with you. I can't wait to see this."

The goddess followed him down the hall to Skuld's lab where they found the younger goddess staring at a metal framed cube in the center of the room. Sitting in the exact center of the cube was The Return of the King.

"Wow, is that it, Skuld?" Keiichi asked.

"That's right!" Skuld declared proudly as she whirled toward them. "Behold the Green Force Field Mark One! It's a ten-gigawatt force field strong enough to repel even a goddess, and the best part is it runs completely on the carbon pollution emissions in the air!"

"Wow, that's really impressive, Skuld," Keiichi admitted. "So turn it on. Let's check it out."

Skuld's face scrunched up. "It is on."

Urd blinked. "Huh?"

"I said it's already on. It's been on for a half hour."

Keiichi looked at the cube. He picked up a piece of paper, crumpled it into a ball and tossed it right through the center of the cube.

"I don't think it's working," he said.

"So it would seem," Skuld confessed.

They said nothing, waiting for her to continue. Finally, Keiichi spoke up again. "This kind of defeats the purpose of me giving you the book to begin with," he told her.

"I don't understand it!" Skuld suddenly cried. "The design is perfect! With all the carbon in the air, this thing should be running like a nuclear reactor and glowing in the dark! I don't understand what gives!"

Urd held a hand up. "Is it okay to question global warming yet?"

Skuld turned on her like an incensed cobra. "No! It is _not_ okay to question global warming! It's a very real, very dangerous phenomenon!" She turned to the framed photo on her desk. "Isn't that right, my beloved?!"

Al Gore said nothing.

Skuld turned back to them. "See?!"

Urd rubbed her temples. "Skuld, you're just falling for the hype just like every other kid who should know better is buying into this fad. Al Gore pushes global warming because it makes him money."

"Al Gore's scientific bona fides are indisputable!" Skuld shot back, pointing at the photo. "He invented the internet! Did you invent an internet?!"

"No," Urd said, rolling her eyes.

"Then excuse me very much if I happen to take the word of a man who has over someone who hasn't!"

"So then why isn't your little force field thing working?"

"I have no idea!" Skuld cried. She rubbed her chin in thought. "Maybe there's so much pollution in the air, the carbon collectors are getting clogged…."

"I think I'm just going to hide the book in my sock drawer next to my dirty magazines," Keiichi sighed.

"No!" Skuld declared. "The power of the Goreacle WILL be proven! I'm going to make this thing work!"

Keiichi rubbed his temples. "Okay, fine. I'll give you until Clio gets here, then it's going to the porn stash."

"Ha! The Goreacle accepts your challenge!"

"Right, whatever," Keiichi said as he walked out of the room.

Urd followed him. "You really think Clio's going to show up here?"

He shrugged. "She has to if she wants to finish what she started," he said. "It's that or wait for a replacement book. That could take weeks or months."

The Norn sighed. "I guess it all comes down to how much of hurry she's in."

"That's the problem," Keiichi told her. "She seems to be in a rush."

888

"Now for the next event!" Urd announced theatrically in the center of the living room. At her feet was a three foot by three foot polished square of mahogany that Skuld was checking with a level. "One throw, high number wins, 20-sided die!"

Belldandy and Peorth watched as Urd held aloft a sky-blue icosahedron with each triangular face adorned with a number in white paint.

"At least this will be short," Urd concluded.

Peorth stepped forward and snatched the die from her. "As there's no skill involved, there's no need to prepare," she said. "Let's just leave it to chance and get it ov…" She blinked as she realized Belldandy was gone. "Where did she go?"

"To prepare," Skuld told her.

The older goddess sighed. "Mon dieu, can't this be easy just once?"

"Go ahead and roll, Peorth," Urd told her. "Skuld and I are witnesses."

The goddess almost made a crack about what good her opponent's sisters as witnesses were to her, but refrained. After all, she didn't care one way or the other… or at least she thought so. Kneeling next to the board, she tossed the die onto the polished face and watched it roll almost to the opposite side before stopping.

"Eighteen!" Urd announced.

"Wow," Skuld breathed. "That's a good roll."

"Oui," Peorth agreed quietly. Gathering her ire again, she put her hands on her hips. "Well, where is Belldandy? We haven't got all night!"

"I'm ready!"

Peorth looked up and her eyes went wide. "Q… Quoi?!"

Belldandy approached the board, her hair tied back in a pony-tail and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses framing her angelic face. She had changed into a pair of brown slacks and a black t-shirt featuring a picture of a twenty-sided die with the words, "I Roll Twenties," printed next to it.

Peorth watched aghast as Belldandy knelt next to the board, her attention squarely on her task. "What do I have to beat?" she asked.

"Eighteen," Urd told her, handing her the die.

"What the hell is this?" Peorth asked, pointing at Belldandy.

The Norn ignored her and closed her eyes, rubbing the die between her hands.

"Excusez moi! What the hell is this?!" Peorth demanded again.

Belldandy's eyes snapped open and her hand shot out, the die striking the wood with a loud CLACK! The icosahedron spun quickly on the tip of one of its corners for more than twenty seconds before it began to slow. The other goddesses watched in suspense as the die click-clacked to a stop…

A white "20" looked up at them.

Belldandy closed her eyes. "Initiative," she whispered.

Peorth stood there, her mouth agape.

The middle Norn looked up and smiled. "I won."

"That's tie score!" Urd announced happily.

Belldandy stood up and bowed to Peorth. "Good game."

Peorth said nothing, just watched as Belldandy went back to her room to change.

"Will somebody please tell me what just happened?" Peorth begged.

"Yeah," Urd said sheepishly. "Belldandy's… kind of a nerd…."

"Quoi?!"

"Keiichi made the mistake of bringing her with him when he was doing an odd job fixing some guy's air conditioner," Urd went on. "The guys there were playing Quests and Corridors, and she asked to play and…. Well… The whole story would take too long to tell…"

"Quoi?!" Peorth repeated, still shocked beyond words at what she had just seen.

"And you know how she is about winning," Urd went on. "I mean, if you think that's bad, you should see her on World of Warriors…"

"Wait, let me guess," Peorth said. "She plays as a noble white priestess who…." She stopped as she saw Urd shaking her head.

"Level 60 Death Knight," Urd told her. "With a hell-spawned stallion for a mount and a sword that rips the soul out of her opponent on the third strike…"

Peorth sat down and shook her head.

Urd continued with a touch of frightened awe in her voice. "When she fights another player and wins, the sword actually deletes their whole account," she said quietly. "It's actually kind of terrifying…"

The other goddess just nodded in agreement.

"I think you may be in over your head this time, Peorth," Urd told her gently.

"Mon dieu, you make it sound like I _want_ this!" she cried angrily. She rose to her feet and went toe-to-toe with the Norn. "She challenged me, remember?!"

"Well, come on, Peorth, the way you've acted around Keiichi…."

"I was doing my job!" Peorth shot back. At Urd's skeptical look, she went on. "Oui, I admit, I developed more… tender feelings… than normal for him, but my one goal was to bring him closer to Belldandy to grant his wish!"

Urd's expression said she was not convinced.

"What are you looking at?!" Peorth cried furiously. She stomped off toward the back door. "I don't have to explain my actions to you!"

888

Keiichi took a couple of quick breaths and pushed the barbell up for another set. He still felt kind of stupid for doing this, but it was something he had been thinking about for a couple of weeks. When Tamiya told him he was upgrading his weight set and offered him the old one, Keiichi saw it as a message from God.

He wasn't fat, far from it, but since he moved out of the dorms, he no longer did the morning work-out ritual with the rest of the Auto Club. And since Belldandy started cooking for him, he no longer had to live on ramen and ketchup packs, which meant he was eating better than he had in a year. Put those things together, and it was little surprise when the boy one morning found his pants to be a little tighter than usual. And if there was one thing that drove a man to lift weights and stay in shape, it was the presence of attractive girls in the general vicinity.

He just wished he could push a little more weight. Benching the 25-pound disks made him feel like a wu…

"Keiichi, can I talk to you?"

The suddenly appearance of Peorth's face floating above his made the boy almost drop the bar on his neck.

"Jeez, Peorth!" he cried, straining to put the bar back on the rack. "What is it?"

Her hands on his stopped him. The goddess was floating above him oriented in the opposite direction so her face looked upside down to him. She squeezed his hands as they held the bar and bit her lip.

"Keiichi… you know I'm not… I mean… Everything I've done has been to push you toward Belldandy," she said. "You know that, right?"

He blinked up at her. He never heard her this solemn before. "Yeah, Peorth," he said quietly. "I know that."

She smiled unsteadily. "I guess my methods really gave you the wrong idea, huh?"

"Your first visit, yeah," he said. "But I mean, you've done a lot since then. You think I'd have had the courage to tell Belldandy I love her if it hadn't been for you?"

Peorth's face softened, and her smile took on a more genuine tone. It lost some of that shine a moment later as she seemed to turn inward for a moment.

"I'm not a tramp," she muttered.

"No one thinks you are," he told her.

"Someone does," she sighed.

He smiled. "Oh, come on!" he said. "Belldandy doesn't think like that."

She blinked. "Oh… Belldandy… Yes, I know that. I…"

"Peorth," he said gently. "You're our friend."

Her face pinched. "That doesn't mean anything, Keiichi."

A moment later she was gone, floated away. Keiichi barely caught the bar, not realizing until just then that Peorth had been the one holding most of its weight up. Once he secured the weights on the rack, he sat up.

"What was that all about?"

888

The doorbell rang, and Keiichi checked the calendar. "Wow, she's fast," he commented.

"I told you," Peorth said quickly as she trotted quickly past him in the other direction. "I gotta go. Look, can't explain but don't mention me."

"Wait… What?" Keiichi demanded as the doorbell rang again.

Peorth had miniaturized herself again and was preparing to hide herself in the kitchen breadbox. "Just don't mention I'm here!" he said again. The lid shut quickly. The doorbell rang again.

"Jeez, I'm coming," he said, shaking his head.

He threw on a smile and opened the door, and like an angry tornado, Clio stalked inside.

"Where is it?!" she demanded. "I want it!"

"Clio! What a surprise! We weren't expecting you!" he replied excitedly.

At that point, Belldandy entered the room. "Keiichi san, is Clio here yet? I need to know how much to make for di…. Ah! Clio san! Welcome to our home."

The muse swung on Keiichi, her eyes alight with green fire. "The Return of the King! I want it! I know you have it!"

"I think we have that DVD somewhere," Belldandy told her innocently.

"You know what I mean!" Clio snapped back as she spun on the goddess. "The book!" She pointed at Keiichi. "The book _he_ checked out! I saw the computer record! I know he has it!"

"Oh," Belldandy said innocently. "I've never read it."

"Awesome book," Keiichi commented.

"Really?!" Clio asked. "I WOULDN'T KNOW!" she screamed into his face.

Keiichi broke a sweat. "Look, Clio, I know you're upset, but…"

"I've been trying to do this for ten years!" she cried. "You can't take that away from me!"

"Clio san, Keiichi san is just trying to make you see reason," Belldandy told her sympathetically. "He did what he did because he knew it was the only way to make you listen to what he had to say."

Clio took a deep breath and turned to Keiichi. "Fine! Say your peace."

Keiichi stood there like a deer in the headlights of an onrushing car. "Okay, I got nothing…"

"GIVE ME THE BOOK, YOU BLITHERING MOR-TARD!" she screamed at him.

"What is all the racket?!" Urd demanded sleepily as she emerged in the living room. "Can't a girl get her beauty nap in?"

"Clio san is here," Belldandy informed her.

"Yeah, I heard," Urd replied.

"She wants Keiichi san's copy of Return of the King," Belldandy elaborated helpfully.

Urd's eyes lit up, and she nodded. "Great book. Definitely one of the top ten things you have to read before you di…" She caught Clio's glare and broke off with a cough. "You know, it's okay…."

Clio turned back to Keiichi. "Give it to me right now!"

"Look, how about this?" Keiichi tried, holding his hands up in surrender. "The book is due back in twelve days, right? I'll return it then if… _if_… you agree to stay here with us for that time."

"Keiichi san?" Belldandy asked.

Clio's eyes narrowed, and her arms folded over her chest. "And the point of that would be?"

"Nothing," he promised. "You just stay with us. When the twelve days are up, you get the book."

"How about I just take the book from you now?" she asked dangerously.

Keiichi swallowed nervously. "Okay… but I think my two goddess friends might have something to say on that."

Clio looked back and saw Urd folding her arms over her breasts with a distinct, "bring it," expression on her face.

Standing next to her, Belldandy blinked. "Wait… Did Clio san just subtly hint that she might hurt Keiichi san to get the book?!" She covered her mouth in horror at the thought.

Urd sighed. "Belldandy… sister… I love you…. Now stop talking and look intimidating."

"Hai!" Belldandy replied, trying to scowl.

Clio growled fiercely and pushed her way past Keiichi toward the door. Throwing it open, she turned back to him. "Hear me, Keiichi Morisato! You haven't heard the last of me! I will avenge myself upon you!" She gathered all the dignity and malevolence into her presence that she could. "I'm going to _tell the librarians on you!"_

The door shut, and she was gone.

He blinked. "You know…. I've been threatened plenty of times since I've met you all…. I'm not sure if I should laugh or not…"

"She's a nerd," Urd sighed. "In her eyes, that's pretty threatening."

"What do you think she'll do?" Belldandy asked.

Keiichi sighed. "I don't know."


End file.
